I may or may not update again until Monday. Not entirely sure what I'm doing with my weekend yet. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty Four
"Four more sessions to go!" Charlie said cheerfully as she drove towards the bait shop in order to drop Joey at work before therapy.
Joey smiled and squeezed her girlfriend's hand.
"I'm really proud of you," she said.
"What, for being so weak and pathetic that I needed counselling in the first place?" Charlie remarked.
"Hey!" Joey protested. "Don't ever say that about yourself. Even the strongest people need help sometimes. I mean, after what that evil bastard put you through..."
She shuddered at the thought of how close she had come to losing the love of her life. Charlie parked the car and put the handbrake on. Smiling lovingly, she leant over and kissed her.
"I'll see you after work, okay?" she said.
"Looking forward to it," Joey replied.
Stealing one more, rather lingering kiss, Joey forced herself out of the car and towards the bait shop. Charlie sat back in her seat and watched her go. She's couldn't quite resist checking out Joey's slender form.
"I am one lucky lady," she mused, pulling back onto the road again.
From a discreet distance, Angelo followed Charlie's little blue car. It was his day off and with his theories driving him crazy, he was determined to get to the bottom of Charlie's affair once and for all. If she was cheating on her so called beloved girlfriend, which he was certain she was, then he was determined to expose the truth. He hadn't allowed himself all that much time to try and figure out why he was so obsessed with this. He blamed the police officer in him, always trying to solve puzzles. And with the Hugo case long over, work was slower than he liked. He wasn't entirely sure that his ex-girlfriend would thank him exactly for breaking her and Joey apart but he hoped that in time, she would realise that he'd been trying to help. How terrible must it be for her to live a lie, dating someone she wasn't even in love with? No, Angelo was convinced that he was rescuing Charlie from her own misery.
"Didn't you quit?" Joey remarked when Aden appeared and immediately started helping her set up the bait shop for the day.
"Yeah, that was dumb," he admitted.
"Well, I guess your male pride was always going to struggle with me being your boss – again," Joey teased.
He mock glared at her, making her laugh.
"Seriously," she said. "What's with the help?"
"I'm bored," Aden said. "Nicole's kissing Britt's arse all day and I'm not on shift at the Diner so I thought, what better way to spend my time than with my hot best friend?"
Joey laughed again.
"I think I'm meant to be offended but I really don't mind you calling me hot," she said. "You should have heard Xavier the other day..."
Aden looked confused so she explained the predicament her step-daughter's boyfriend had found himself in with his mother.
"We are going to get into so much trouble when our Mums realise that we've disappeared," Xavier worried.
Having made up with his mother, Xavier had immediately got into an argument with John. Fearing repercussions when Gina found out, he had convinced Ruby to skip school with him. It was nice timing really. The couple were still feeling their way with their resumed relationship. Things felt both familiar and different this time around. Xavier harboured some anxiety about Ruby having dated and slept with Geoff and Ruby was conscious of the fact that she had no idea what her boyfriend had been up to in her absence. It felt like a nice day to reconnect and really concentrate on each other.
"I know," Ruby sighed, holding his hand and leading him onto a secluded area of beach in Mangrove River.
Up ahead, they winced at seeing a few of the River Boys larking about on their surf boards.
"Should we go somewhere else?" Xavier wondered. "Those guys always seem to cause trouble wherever they go. I don't really want to get into anything."
"If they bother us, we'll leave," Ruby promised. "But we shouldn't let some brainless surfers chase us away."
Decisively, Ruby led the way.
Angelo parked up outside a house he'd never been to before. He'd watched Charlie pull into the drive and knock on the door. And she'd been welcomed in by an older man. He wasn't quite the same build as the guy he'd seen her having sex with but there was definitely something dodgy going on, he was sure. Now, with just over an hour having passed, he watched Charlie say goodbye to the man and head back towards her car. He ducked out of sight as she left the house and drove towards the police station, ready to start her shift at work.
"You really think Angelina is hotter than Jennifer Aniston?" Aden wondered.
He had settled back into helping Joey out and was thoroughly enjoying his day, even if he had no chance of spending any real time with Nicole. His girlfriend was so consumed with her studies and her apprenticeship that she didn't seem to have any time for him at the moment.
"Well, I wouldn't kick either of them out of bed," Joey conceded. "And it's a pretty close call but I think Angelina has the edge."
Aden shook his head.
"I grew up fantasising about the girls from Friends," he admitted. "Nobody could make me betray Rachel Green!"
Joey laughed and shook her head.
"Maybe it's because Angelina has the whole bi thing going on," she mused. "It makes her somewhat popular with ladies who like ladies!"
She smirked. Aden paused, deliberately picturing the scene with a dirty smile on his face.
"But Sandra Bullock is better than either of them," Joey added.
"Sandra Bullock?" he said. "Really?"
"Hell yeah! Did you not see The Proposal?"
"No."
"You have not lived!" Joey squeaked. "You're coming round for a movie night ASAP. I shall educate you on the wonder of Sandra Bullock. And what a wonder she is..."
Aden chuckled.
"I'm more of a Cameron Diaz guy," he said.
"Well, the hottest of all female celebrities as to be Jorja Fox."
"Who?"
"The woman from CSI," Joey said as if he was stupid. "Charlie got me into it and we've both decided that she's the eighth wonder of the world!"
Disappointed not to have got anything more concrete on Charlie, Angelo vowed to be more prepared next time. Next time, he'd have a camera. And he'd figure out exactly what she was getting up to behind closed doors. And then he was going to tell Joey everything. Deciding that nothing more exciting was going to happen, Angelo headed towards the beach, wondering what to do with his day.
"Hey!" Ruby snapped. "You were one of the guys involved in the riot a couple of months ago."
As Xavier had predicted, several of the River Boys had approached in order to give them hassle. She glared at a tall, dark, tattooed guy that she was sure she recognised.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he told her with a sneer.
"You were one of the people who nearly killed us," Ruby said, squaring up to him.
In the background, a younger boy shifted uncomfortably.
"You might want to tone it down," the taller guy warned. "Spreading lies like that could get you into trouble."
He stepped forward. Xavier leapt in the way.
"Leave her alone!" he demanded.
The guy pushed him hard.
"Hey!" yelled a voice. "What's going on?"
Ruby turned round to see Angelo hurrying towards them as the boys began to fight. She didn't think she'd ever seen so happy to see him before. Immediately, he started to break up the fight.
"Alright, I'll take it from here," said another voice.
A good looking guy with 'blood and sand' tattooed boldly across his chest approached. Ruby was surprised to see all of the River Boys immediately begin to tow the line.
"I should arrest your boys for intimidation," Angelo said sourly.
"Well it's over now," the other guy, who Angelo thought was nicknamed 'Brax', said. "So why don't we all go on our way?"
Angelo hesitated. He was itching for a row. But instead, opted to take the high road and just bring Ruby and Xavier out of the situation.
"What are you two doing out of school anyway?" he asked as he led them up the beach.
Both teenagers looked guilty.
"I'm taking you back to school," he said firmly.
Charlie and Watson walked through the hospital doors and immediately located the woman who had called them. She was older than both of them but beautiful in a rather obvious, manicured way. Her hair was piled up on her head and her face was fraught with worry.
"Did you call the police?" Charlie asked, approaching her.
"Yes!" the woman gushed. "I was driving along and I found this poor boy in the middle of the road and he doesn't even know his name or anything and I just had to..."
"Could we start with your name?" Charlie interjected gently.
"Oh! Yes!" she said. "I'm Marilyn. Marilyn Chambers."
"And where were you when you found this boy?" Watson asked.
They led her over to a set of chairs and sat down.
"I was driving into Summer Bay," she said.
"For what purpose?" Watson asked. "Visiting someone or...?"
"I was coming home," Marilyn replied.
Having finished work for the day, Joey took Aden to the Diner to shout him a coffee. Charlie was due to finish her shift in an hour and Joey was looking forward to spending the evening with her.
"What's all this?" she asked when she spotted her boss looking uncharacteristically excited.
"Marilyn's coming home!" Alf said joyfully.
Behind the counter, Colleen pulled a face, tutted and wandered back into the kitchen.
"Who's Marilyn?" Joey asked, intrigued.
"She's the most remarkable woman, Joey," Alf enthused. "Honestly, you'll love her. I've known her for so long but she's lived away from the Bay for years. I can't believe she's actually coming back here. And from the sounds of it, she's actually going to stay. I'm so happy, I..."
He trailed off and looked rather overcome. Spontaneously, Joey hugged him, declaring that she was very much looking forward to meeting a woman Alf deemed to be so special.
Charlie and Watson, followed by Marilyn, let themselves into the stranger's hospital room, where Rachel was treating him.
"Hi there," Charlie said politely. "My name's Sergeant Charlie Buckton and this is Senior Constable Watson. Any idea who you are?"
"He doesn't seem to remember much of anything," Rachel said. "His memory is consistent with a head injury."
"There's only one name in my head," the good looking, dark haired man said. "But I don't really know what it means. Aden. I think... I think I was coming to visit him."
"Aden Jeffries?" Charlie asked.
The boy shook his head and said he didn't know. Charlie stepped out of the room to use the phone.
Joey, Aden, Alf and Miles were crowded round a table together when Aden's phone rang.
"Excuse me," he said politely, escaping the table.
"Aden?" Charlie said when he answered.
"Hey, Charlie," he greeted, a little puzzled that she was ringing him and not Joey.
"Hi," the police officer said. "I need you to come to the hospital if you can."
"The hospital?"
At the table, Joey's ears pricked up, wondering if her friend was okay.
"We've got a guy here suffering with amnesia," Charlie explained. "The only thing he seems able to remember is your name. So we were wondering if you could come down and make an ID."
"Um... sure," Aden said, wondering who on earth could have come to town looking for him.
Hanging up, he headed back over to the table.
"I'll give you a lift if you like," Miles offered. "We'll leave Alf to his own overexcitement."
Alf pretended to look offended but really, he was just happy to know his friend would soon arrive.
"Do you want me to come with?" Joey offered.
"Thanks," Aden accepted. "I have no idea who and what's going to be waiting for me!"
Next time... Marilyn is welcomes back to the Bay while Aden is reunited with Justin...
